Representing New Zealand music

MATT HAY

MATT HAY

There are singer-songwriters who use their craft to project a more romantic image of themselves. You hear them sing their songs and you imagine them as cowboys, drifters, gamblers, rebels on life’s highways, though the reality is generally far more prosaic.

Wellington based singer-songwriter Matt Hay is different. Starting from the dictum ‘write what you know’ he pens songs that barely venture beyond his own suburban backyard. He doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what he is; a balladeer from the ‘burbs. And yet you will find melodies here that stick in your brain, choruses you’ll want to sing along to, lyrics that are timeless and poignant, offering quietly astute commentaries on life’s little ups and downs.

Hay is now a firmly established face on the Wellington blues and roots scene having first appeared as harmonica player in blues wunderkinds Cool Disposition in the early ‘90s. Cool Disposition morphed into roots rock outfit Surge, who release one critically acclaimed album ‘Then Again’ before calling it quits in 1997. Hay has also featured as side man for local blues legends Darren Watson, Dave Murphy and Marg Layton.